FONT

SHARE THIS

MORE STORIES

St. Helens teacher arraigned on 32 counts of sex abuse

Kyle Wroblewski appears in court for legal proceedings July 9; pretrial conference date to be set later

UPDATED: A St. Helens teacher facing criminal charges appeared in court this week to be arraigned on additional charges following his arrest for sex abuse earlier this year.

Kyle Jarred Wroblewski, 44, was arrested in May on criminal charges after St. Helens Police Department officers received a tip about an inappropriate relationship between the man and a 17-year-old girl.

On Monday, July 9, Wroblewski was arraigned on more than 30 new charges of sexual abuse, among other charges, after the case was brought before a grand jury last week.

Initially, Wroblewski was arrested on fewer charges, however, a court indictment indicates that the school district employee now faces 32 counts of sexual abuse in the second degree, two counts of official misconduct in the first degree, and one count of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, after a grand jury heard the case on July 3.

Wroblewski pleaded not guilty to the charges during a probable cause hearing on July 9.

The indictment alleges Wroblewski engaged in sexual intercourse, sexual touching and penetration, and oral sex with the victim on multiple occasions between November 2017 and May 1.

Wroblewski is a social studies teacher at St. Helens High School, where he also coached football and track. He was placed on paid administrative leave following his arrest earlier this year.

Police never identified the victim publicly due

to her age, but court records indicate the victim was a student at St. Helens High School.

While Wroblewski remains out of custody on a conditional release agreement that was approved by the court on May 3, District Attorney Jeff Auxier noted that his office was conducting further investigation into the release and may come back to the court at a future date to review the conditions.

Currently Wroblewski must stay at least 500 feet away from the high school campus; may not go to schools, playgrounds or sporting events involving minor athletes; is restricted from accessing certain residential streets; may not have contact with minors except his children; may not have direct or indirect contact with the alleged victim; and may not access social media, according to his conditional release documents.

Auxier later explained that Columbia County recently employed a pretrial release officer, whose job is to determine how likely a person might be to return to court for trial if they were released from custody.

"Part of the reason for the delay in addressing these release issues that were raised is that we'd like to take advantage of the officer and let them conduct an investigation into to the suitability for release pending trial," Auxier told the Spotlight Monday afternoon.

While a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, Auxier explained, the court should be able to determine if a person is likely going to appear for court if they are released from custody.

A date for the conditional release review has not been set. A pretrial conference is also scheduled to be set by the defense counsel at a later date.

(Editor's note: A sentence of this story has been redacted at the request of the one of the parties involved in the case citing privacy concerns.)